Monster
Energy’s Gus Kenworthywent
huge tonight in Men’s Ski SuperPipe at X Games Aspen 2016, taking the silver medal
in a hotly contested final. This is the first X Games medal for the Colorado
skier—one of the busiest and most successful skiers on the contest scene, he
finally has an X Games medal to his name.

The X
Games Ski SuperPipe event sees the best freeskiers in the world giving it their
all on the massive 22’ icy SuperPipe that is custom-built for this weekend’s
event. Each rider gets three runs, with the top scores determining the podium
finishers. With the best guys able to throw an amazing five doubles in their
runs, skiers had to really push themselves if they had any hope for the podium.

Fighting
through a heel injury, Kenworthy taped-up his feet and relied on the adrenaline
of the competition to get him through it. He came out of the gates hot, chalking
up a very solid 91.33 to take the early lead. His best score came on his second
run, as he eliminated a little hand drag and cleaned up his run. He dropped in
and kicked things off his run with a massive nearly 18-foot hit. Throughout the
competition he stayed fast and focused as he went huge, with his biggest boost
a massive 20’6”. After a Double Cork 1260 safety, he pulled a rightside 1080
lead tail, switch double flip 1080 Japan, alley-oop double flatspin 900 Japan,
and finally a double cork 1080 safety. That score was an improvement of a
full point to a 92.33, which was enough to secure the silver. Check out his
Silver medal run here.

“This
feels incredible,” said Kenworthy after finals. “This is my fifth year coming
to Aspen for X Games, and I’ve just narrowly missed the podium a few times.
I’ve wanted this my whole life; growing up all I wanted to do was medal at the
X Games. To finally make that dream come true feels so good. That was the best
pipe run that I’ve ever landed, and it feels really good.”

Though
this is the first X Games medal stateside for Kenworthy, he’s no stranger to
the podium. After a breakout year in 2010 that saw him winning both superpipe
and slopestyle at the Aspen/Snowmass Open, he continued filling his trophy
case. He took silver in ski slopestyle at the Sochi Olympics, and has bagged
numerous straight AFP overall titles. Recently in December he repeated as the
Dew Tour Freeski Slopestyle champion, and just last week he took the top spot
in Pipe at the Mammoth Mountain Visa Grand Prix/World Cup.

A
well-rounded skier who shreds everything, Kenworthy is the only skier who is
competing this weekend in both slopestyle and pipe events. Look out for more
action from him on Sunday when Men’s Ski Slopestyle gets underway.

Monster
Energy returns as the official energy drink partner of X Games. Check out monsterenergy.comand Monster Energy Facebooknow
and throughout X Games Aspen 2016 for exclusive photos, videos, and contest
results as they happen. Search #UnleashedAtX on Instagram and Twitter for
exclusive behind-the-scenes looks in Aspen.